At what age should kids be tried as an adult?

[Katrina]

If a kid is caught committing a crime, at what age should he/she be tried as an adult?

 

[Page]

13 I say back in the day yet again 18 is the drinking age and seen many at age 15 that are very adult look alike, but end of the day early 20s I say in 2023

 

[zappaDPJ]

I'd say 18 because otherwise you risk incarcerating vulnerable children with predatory adults.

 

[Saphira]

It depends on the crime and what punishment is possible when not trying them as an adult. I'm not an expert, but, a child that intentionally killed another child shouldn't get away with, I don't know, a year on a special school or a year of sweeping streets as "community service".

 

[Shortie_]

With the crimes I see and how much kids tend to get away with because of their age, I feel in this day and age, due to the issues we face, age 13 would be a good age to try them for some kind of young offenders. It's best to make them learn from a young age even if it means trying them for their crimes.

 

[Cam]

I would say 18, but you have to take the type of crime into consideration. If you’ve got someone who is 16-17 and committing murder, probably need to be tried as an adult.

 

[Deleted member 31696]

The idea that there is a magic age where kids all of a sudden understand the gravity of their actions in order to be held accountable is fundamentally flawed. From a physiological stance, we know that most kids don’t have a fully formed prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain that allows us to understand the long term) until roughly age 25. We are physically incapable of really understanding the consequences of our actions before that.

Of course, that isn’t taken into account when we’re legally able to make all sorts of adult decisions by 18 (or younger in some cases.) As for criminal offenses, we really shouldn’t treat any kids like adults.

 

[Kirubel]

Anybody over the age of 15 should be considered an adult when it comes to crime. This is because a 15-year-old can define right and wrong, so they are aware of what a crime is and think that committing a crime is a mistake.

 

[Min George]

A child that is up to 15 years old understands pains and how people go through it. Any child of that age that commits a crime that inflicts severe pains on another person should be tried as an adult.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I think it really depends on the severity of their crime. If they murdered someone they should be tried as an adult if they're are at least 13 years old, otherwise 18 should be the age.

 

[Revolved101]

It depends on the crime and what punishment is possible when not trying them as an adult. I'm not an expert, but, a child that intentionally killed another child shouldn't get away with, I don't know, a year on a special school or a year of sweeping streets as "community service".

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